Choux pastry for eclairs - 5 recipes with photos step by step

Posting in group: Baking

Profiteroles are small buns that are baked either in the oven or in the oven. The basis of this delicacy is choux pastry. The recipe for the product is such that the cakes are dry and hollow inside. When using even a small volume of flour, a lot of cakes come out, which can be filled with absolutely any filling.

However, the filling should not have a very liquid consistency. Otherwise, the dessert will become moist inside and lose its taste. The filling for profiteroles can be either sweet or savory. At the same time, such buns can not be filled, but served at the table for lunch or simply drunk with tea. The calorie content of the dish reaches approximately 200 kcal per 100 g of product. The indicator is not too high, but you should not consume the treat in large quantities so as not to gain extra pounds.

The simplest recipe using water

When properly kneading the flour mixture, the raw material should become thick, elastic and viscous. In this case, the product should not drain from the spatula. It should be spherical in shape. In addition, it is worth considering that the eggs should be added one at a time. Once the flour mixture is completely mixed with the egg, you can add the following.

What ingredients will you need?

To create custard flour for cakes at home, you should purchase the following food products:

water – 250 ml;
butter – 100 g;
wheat flour – 160 g;
table salt – 6 g;
eggs – 220 g.

If the eggs are large, then it is best to use 3 eggs, as well as 1 yolk. It is not recommended to beat in all the eggs at once. Otherwise, the dough may come out with a very runny texture.

Step-by-step cooking process

The step-by-step process of making dough for profiteroles with your own hands requires the following points:

Add butter and table salt to a thick-bottomed saucepan.
Next, the mixture must be placed on medium heat and, stirring occasionally, bring the components to a homogeneous state.
After the water and oil boil, you need to reduce the heat and add flour. The contents of the saucepan should be thoroughly mixed, trying to break up all the lumps.
Then, after intensively brewing the dough for 3 minutes. The saucepan must be removed from the stove, having cooled its contents to approximately 70 °C.
Next, you need to add chicken eggs one by one, thoroughly mixing all the ingredients.

After the mass becomes homogeneous, it should be used for its intended purpose.

Option for preparing the base with milk

If you can experiment with the filling for eclairs and put inside from sweet to sour-salty, then the recipe for choux pastry does not allow liberties. The only thing that can be replaced is water with milk. And only if you are preparing the dough with yeast.

To prepare choux pastry with yeast, take:

Milk – 200 milliliters;
Flour - 200 grams;
Melted butter - ¼ cup;
Chicken eggs – 4 pcs.;
Dry yeast – 10 grams;
Salt – 5 grams;
Sugar – 5 grams.

First, beat the eggs until foamy. Pour the flour into a bowl and pour in the boiled milk. Beat with a mixer until we get a homogeneous mass.

We dilute the yeast in a spoon of warm water and add it to the dough together with sugar. Add the eggs to the dough and beat until smooth without lumps.

Salt the dough, add butter and, if necessary, add flour, bring to the required consistency. Leave for one hour or a little more, the dough should triple in size.

Place the finished dough in the form of 8-12 centimeter sticks and bake for 30 minutes.

On margarine

Choux pastry for profiteroles, the recipe for which includes margarine, turns out to be very tender and melts in your mouth. At the same time, such a flour dough rises very well, leaving enough space inside the cake, which can be filled with filling. The calorie content of the dish is approximately 250 kcal per 100 g serving.

What ingredients will you need?

To create dough for profiteroles with your own hands using margarine, you need to purchase the following food products:

Name of ingredients	Required quantity
Water	100 ml
Chicken eggs	165 g
Margarine	200 g
Flour	200 g
Salt	1 pinch

To obtain a large number of cakes, the volume of all necessary ingredients should be doubled. For cooking, it is advisable to use a saucepan with high sides.

Step-by-step cooking process

The detailed process of making dough for profiteroles at home based on margarine is described in the following paragraphs:

To mix the ingredients, you need to add margarine with water and table salt, and then put it on the stove. The contents must be heated over low heat until the margarine has melted.
Then you should add flour, removing the saucepan from the heat and quickly kneading the dough.
When the dough has cooled slightly, beat in the eggs and continue kneading.

When all the components used to create the flour mixture are homogeneous, the product can be used for its intended purpose.

A little about the history of famous cakes

The history of eclairs dates back to 1533, when Catherine de Medici arrived in France, accompanied by her cook Panterolli. He opened the choux pastry.

The discovery of eclairs dates back to the 18th century, and they were invented by the famous chef Marie-Antoine Carême, who in France was nicknamed “the cook of kings and the king of cooks.” The famous culinary specialist worked at the court of George IV, Napoleon and Russian Emperor Alexander I. The cake did not gain enormous popularity immediately, only in the 19th century, and since then it has taken root in many countries that have long considered it theirs.

Translated, the word “éclair” means “lightning, flash.” Some explain this by the fact that tiny cakes were swept off the table with lightning speed, but they say that the name came from its shiny appearance.

Incredibly tasty, eclair, as befits a family with centuries-old traditions, has several varieties - in addition to the classic recipe, there are also “profiteroles” and “shu”. They all have a common cooking technology, but, nevertheless, are slightly different.

What they have in common is that they are essentially small buns, empty inside, and they are prepared with just flour, water, butter and flour. Evaporating moisture allows the product to have a durable shell. And the eggs help her stay intact. Eclairs are easily recognized by their elongated shape, ideally 14 cm long, and traditionally sweet filling. They are always covered with glaze on top.

Profiteroles are tiny buns, 2-3 cm in diameter, which are often served with soup or gravy instead of bread. They are filled with mushrooms and meat, but they can also be sweet. Their name comes from the French “profit” - profit. The fact is that there is little dough for profiteroles, but when they increase in size during the baking process, they visually look much more expensive.

Shu – round buns, up to 5 cm in diameter. There are a variety of fillings for buns - sweet and not so sweet. The difference from eclairs is that they cut off the top, put cream inside, and then cover this top, smearing it with cream.

With vegetable oil

The choux pastry recipe is so versatile that it can be made not only with margarine or butter, but also with regular sunflower oil. As a result, profiteroles are quite tender, dense and elastic.

What ingredients will you need?

When creating custard flour for cakes based on vegetable oil at home, you will need the following food products:

vegetable oil – 100 ml;
flour – 300 g;
table salt – 1 pinch;
eggs – 220 g.

To knead the dough, it is advisable to use a refined type of oil. It should not have a specific taste or smell. This is necessary so that the oil product does not clog the main taste of the finished product.

Step-by-step cooking process

The detailed process of creating a dough for profiteroles with your own hands based on vegetable oil is described in the following steps:

Pour water into a thick-walled pan, adding table salt and sunflower oil.
The components must be brought to a boil and then supplemented with flour.
After vigorously mixing all the ingredients without removing from heat for 2 minutes, the raw materials should not stick to the walls of the pan.
Next, the mass must be cooled for 15 minutes.
Continuing to thoroughly mix the workpiece, add 1 chicken egg to the components.

When all the ingredients are brought to homogeneity, the dough piece can be used for culinary purposes.

From Yulia Vysotskaya

Choux pastry for profiteroles, the recipe for which includes a minimum of ingredients, can be easily and quickly created with your own hands at home. As a result, the delicacy turns out incredibly sweet, airy and quite tender. It is recommended to serve it on the table for lunch, afternoon tea and evening along with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

What ingredients will you need?

To form flour raw materials according to the recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya at home, you must have the following components:

water – 250 ml;
sugar crystals – 15 g;
chicken eggs – 220 g;
butter – 100 g;
flour – 150 g;
table salt – 11 g.

The water for mixing custard flour raw materials should not be running, but filtered. The fat content of the oil must be at least 80%. Before cooking, it is recommended to sift the flour through a sieve to remove unnecessary specks.

Step-by-step cooking process

To form flour raw materials for cakes with your own hands, you should adhere to the following points:

In one container you need to combine sugar crystals with flour and table salt.
In the second container you need to mix the oil with water and put it on the stove. The ingredients should be heated until the butter melts. Next, you need to increase the heat and wait until the mixture boils.
Then add flour to a saucepan with water, mix thoroughly and remove the dishes from the stove for about 25 minutes. so that the mixture cools down a little.
After this, the pan must be put back on the fire, continuing to knead the ingredients until a ball forms.

At the end, remove the container from the heat, add the eggs one at a time and mix the ingredients until smooth. Then the workpiece can be used for its intended purpose.

Classic custard

There are several recipes, but I will share with you one, the simplest one for now.

Take:

Sugar - half a glass.
Oil – 150 gr.
Starch – 15 gr.
Water – 150 ml.

How to cook:

Stir starch and then sugar in water at room temperature.
Keep the heat on low and bring to almost a boil, stirring constantly. You should have the consistency of jelly.
Remove from heat, let cool and add softened butter. Beat with a mixer.

From Evgenia Barsukova

Choux pastry for profiteroles, the recipe for which can be supplemented with milk, comes out quite airy, soft and tender. At the same time, the finished delicacy has a light milky taste and smell.

What ingredients will you need?

In order to make a choux pastry for dessert, you should have the following ingredients on hand:

water – 80 ml;
sugar crystals – 3 g;
butter – 80 g;
milk – 80 ml;
flour – 80 g;
table salt – 2 g;
eggs – 140 g.

It is recommended to use homemade milk to create custard flour raw materials, since it is more nutritious, quite fatty and beneficial for the body. It is advisable to use butter with a fat content of about 72%. Due to this, the flour mixture will be denser and more tender.

Step-by-step cooking process

The step-by-step process of forming custard flour raw materials is described in the following paragraphs:

Add table salt with sugar crystals, water and milk to the saucepan. Next, you need to add the butter, chopped into cubes.
Afterwards you will need to bring the contents to a boil, then remove from the stove and very quickly add the flour, stirring the ingredients well.
Then the saucepan must be returned to the stove and the dough must be heated for 5 minutes. to a temperature of 75 °C, stirring the mass periodically.
Afterwards, the raw materials must be sent to a bowl and cooled to a temperature of 60 ° C at low speed for 3 minutes.
Eggs at room temperature must be beaten using a whisk, adding them to the dough in 3 stages and maintaining the speed at maximum speed.

After thoroughly mixing the workpiece for another 5 minutes. The resulting raw materials can be used for their intended purpose or stored in the refrigerator compartment.

What to stuff profiteroles with?

At home, profiteroles can be filled with absolutely any filling, both sweet and savory.

The following unsweetened fillings for custard buns are often used:

Cocktail shrimp with onion, apple and cucumber. All ingredients need to be chopped, sprinkled with pepper and poured with mayonnaise.
Chicken fillet with cheese and pineapple. The ingredients should be chopped into cubes, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with mayonnaise and sprinkled with parsley.
Mashed potatoes with sour cream. The composition will need to be salted and sprinkled with chopped green onions and spices.
Boiled potatoes with fried chicken breast. The products must be chopped and mixed.
Lightly salted salmon with cream cheese, parsley and lemon. The ingredients must be ground in a blender, filling the cakes with them, and also garnishing with a slice of lemon and parsley.
Canned tuna with beans and parsley, seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice.
Meat pate with pickles and herbs.
Curd mass with chopped fresh cucumber and herbs, seasoned with liquid cream.
Fried mushrooms mixed with chopped egg, onion, cheese and pine nuts. The composition must be seasoned with mayonnaise.
Processed cheese mixed with butter.
Curd cheese, complemented with herbs and salmon.
Processed cheese mixed with butter and pieces of lightly salted salmon.
Red caviar with butter, a slice of lemon and a sprig of parsley.
Shredded carrots with cheese, onions and boiled eggs. The composition will need to be salted and peppered, as well as seasoned with mayonnaise.
Chopped boiled beets with garlic cloves, prunes, apple and lingonberries.
Soft cheese mixed with walnuts, liquid cream, pieces of fried champignons, and chopped celery.
Soft cream cheese, ground in a blender with liquid cream. You will need to fill the cakes with the resulting mixture and decorate the top with pine nuts and grape fruits.
Curd mass mixed with chopped garlic cloves and carrots. The mixture must be poured with sour cream.
Minced boiled beef, supplemented with chopped pickled cucumbers, fried onions, and grated boiled carrots. The mixture should be topped with mayonnaise.
Cheese cheese with chopped olives, herbs and sweet pepper.

It is also permissible to fill profiteroles with sweet filling:

boiled condensed milk mixed with roasted nuts;
cottage cheese sprinkled with sugar;
custard or protein cream;

In addition, such products can simply be served without filling for lunch, using them as buns for a hot dish.

How to prepare dessert?

After kneading the choux pastry, you can proceed directly to making the cakes. To do this you need to do the following:

You will need to place the flour mixture in a cooking bag. It is also permissible to use a thick bag that contained milk. You can use any attachment you like best.

Choux pastry for profiteroles, the recipe for which includes water with flour, eggs and butter, can easily be made with your own hands at home.
The baking pan needs to be lined with parchment paper. Then you will need to squeeze small pieces onto a baking sheet. The distance between the buns should be at least 4 cm. This is necessary so that the flour raw materials do not stick together during the baking process.
If desired, the parchment can be soaked in sunflower oil. However, if the paper is of good quality, then this is not necessary.
The ends of the blanks must be lightly pressed with a damp finger, giving the profiteroles a beautiful appearance.
The container with the contents must be placed in an oven preheated to 200 °C for approximately 10 minutes. Afterwards, the mode should be reduced to 180 °C, continuing baking for 25 minutes.

When the product is ready, you will need to remove it from the oven and cool at room temperature. During the process of making cakes, it is necessary to observe temperature differences. If the pieces are baked at a very low temperature, they will not rise well. However, if you bake the delicacy at a high temperature all the time, it will become very hard and will also crumble when cut.

Choux pastry for eclairs - secrets

There are few tricks when preparing choux pastry for eclairs and profiteroles, but in order for the cakes to turn out airy, I advise you to study them carefully.

Secrets of the perfect choux pastry

No matter how trivial it may sound, take only the freshest products, and this especially applies to eggs. Then the dough will rise well and the taste will be excellent. To check eggs for quality, put them in water - stale ones will float.
Before cooking, remove the eggs from the refrigerator and keep them at home temperature - they should not be cold.
To make the eclair dough airy, do not be lazy to beat it thoroughly, preferably with a mixer.
To make the dough airy, use premium flour and be sure to sift it.
The consistency should resemble sour cream.
Try not to use margarine, otherwise the taste of the products will suffer; it is better to purchase natural butter for cream and dough.

Useful tips and tricks

To properly make choux pastry for cakes, you need to follow simple but useful culinary tips for making flour dough at home:

It is recommended to sift the flour used to make profiteroles at least once, and add it not in portions, but all at once.
Chicken eggs, if they are stored in the refrigerator compartment, will need to be removed approximately 3 hours before the start of making the workpiece. If you use eggs that are below room temperature, the dough may not turn out well, which in turn will affect the quality of the baked product.
Eggs need to be beaten into the raw materials in stages. In this case, the flour mixture will need to be pre-cooled so that the whites do not curl. After beating in each egg, the dough should be thoroughly kneaded.
It is recommended to melt the butter not separately, but with water as it boils.
The consistency of the dough also affects the quality of the baked product. The texture should be such that when it hits the baking sheet, the dough does not spread. At the same time, it is advisable to knead the flour mixture with a hand whisk and very quickly so that the raw material does not have time to cool.
It is recommended to bake the cake immediately after mixing the raw materials, while it is warm. Otherwise, the products may not turn out as expected.
It is recommended to plant profiteroles on a baking sheet using a cooking bag. The distance between the workpieces should be from 5 to 7 cm.
The treat should first be baked at 220°C for 20 minutes, and then the temperature should be lowered to 190°C and the baked goods should be cooked until ready. It is also contraindicated to open the oven door during baking. This may affect the quality of baked goods.
To give profiteroles new flavor shades, it is recommended to soak the blanks with lemon, sugar or chocolate glaze.
It is strictly forbidden to violate the recipe or change the quantity or weight of the required ingredients when forming custard flour raw materials for cakes. This will cause the flour mixture to become either stiff or very runny.
Water can be replaced with milk, and instead of 4 eggs, you can use 2 whites and 2 eggs.
It is not recommended to interrupt the process of making profiteroles, as this may cause the raw materials to simply fall off.

The choux pastry recipe is very simple and versatile. Therefore, such a flour preparation can be used not only to create profiteroles, but also eclairs, pizza, pasties, dumplings, and also dumplings. Any delicacy turns out appetizing, tender and airy.